The present invention relates to a construction of a footrest on which the passenger""s foot is placed.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional footrest pedal bracket 100 is formed into a hat shape in cross section, and is provided with a pair of flange portions 100b at the lower ends of side wall faces 100a on both sides. The footrest pedal bracket 100 is installed by joining the flange portions 100b to a dash panel 102 of a vehicle body 101 by spot welds w. To the dash panel 102, a dash silencer 103 is assembled. In assembling, the dash silencer 103 is assembled so that the footrest pedal bracket 100 projects to the outside from an opening 103a of the dash silencer 103.
Thus, the footrest pedal bracket 100 is disposed so that the flange portions 100b intrude on the lower side of the dash silencer 103.
Next, the dash silencer 103 is covered with a carpet 104, and the outside of the footrest pedal bracket 100 is also covered with the carpet 104.
Then, a footrest depression face plate 105 is assembled to the footrest pedal bracket 100 with the carpet 104 being interposed therebetween. Specifically, the footrest depression face plate 105 is threadedly mounted to the footrest pedal bracket 100 together with the carpet 104 with screws 106.
As another type of footrest construction, as shown in FIG. 8, two stud bolts 107 are erectly provided on a dash panel 102 so as to be directed toward the cabin side, and a dash silencer and a carpet, both not shown, are assembled to the stud bolts 107 by aligning the holes of the dash silencer and carpet with each other. Then, a resin-made footrest pedal 108 is installed by inserting the stud bolts 107 into bosses 108a formed on the back face of the footrest pedal 108.
However, with the method in which the footrest pedal bracket 100 is installed by means of spot welds w, since the footrest pedal bracket 100 is constructed so as to be supported by the side wall faces 100a on both sides, it is necessary to use a steel sheet having a great thickness to prevent deformation. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, a hole of the same size as that of the footrest pedal bracket 100 is formed in the dash silencer 103, so that the sound absorption property and sound insulation property may decrease.
Furthermore, there is often shown a tendency for the lower part of the dash panel 102 to be made as a separate part in order to make the thickness of the lower part greater than that of the upper part from the viewpoint of vehicle body strength.
If the dash panel 102 is constructed by a dash upper panel 102a and a dash lower panel 102b, the footrest pedal bracket 100 is sometimes disposed so as to stride the joint between the dash upper panel 102a and the dash lower panel 102b because of the passenger""s posture, so that the installation of footrest may be difficult to accomplish.
In this case, the location in which the dash upper panel 102a and the dash lower panel 102b are joined to each other by spot welds w coincide with the location in which the footrest pedal bracket 100 is installed to the dash panel 102. Therefore, it is necessary that after the dash upper panel 102a and the dash lower panel 102b have been joined to each other by spot welds w, the footrest pedal bracket 100 be spot welded to the dash panel 102, which leads to an increase in work process, thereby increasing the cost.
Still further, a waterproof sealer is applied to a joint edge 109 of the dash upper panel 102a and the dash lower panel 102b, and this application work is difficult to do in the portion in which the footrest pedal bracket 100 is installed, and thus the efficiency of this work is poor.
On the other hand, with the method in which the resin-made footrest pedal 108 is assembled to the stud bolts 107, since the resin-made footrest pedal 108 is assembled afterward, the work for applying the waterproof sealer 110 is easy. However, since the resin-made footrest pedal 108 is assembled to the stud bolts 107 via the bosses 108a, the positions of the stud bolts 107 must coincide with the positions of assembly holes in the bosses 108a. Also, in the case where the resin-made footrest pedal 108 is installed so as to extend on both of the dash upper panel 102a and the dash lower panel 102b, the pitch L of the stud bolts 107 must be controlled strictly, which results in an increase in the cost of the dash panel 102 and the equipment cost.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide a vehicular footrest construction capable of ensuring sufficient stiffness with a simple construction and increasing the assembling work efficiency.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicular footrest construction in which a footrest depression face plate on which the passenger""s foot is placed is disposed on a pedal bracket fixed to a vehicle body, wherein the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that a footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket to which the footrest depression face plate is installed is supported by three wall faces.
Also, in the present invention, the pedal bracket is formed so that a U-like shape is formed by an attachment face which is installed to the vehicle body, a side wall face continuous with one side of the attachment face, and the footrest depression face plate attaching portion continuous with the side wall face, and upper and lower wall faces are formed by bending, toward the attachment face, projecting portions provided at the upper and lower ends of the footrest depression face plate attaching portion, by which the footrest depression face plate attaching portion is supported by three wall faces.
Further, in the present invention, flange portions provided at the tip ends of the upper and lower wall faces are joined to the attachment face, and mounting holes for mounting the pedal bracket on the vehicle body side are formed in lapped portions of the flange portion and attachment face.
Still further, in the present invention, the pedal bracket is fixed, through the mounting holes, on bolts mounted on a dash panel, and the pedal bracket is installed after a painting process.
Also, in the present invention, at least one of the mounting holes is formed into an elongated hole extending in the vertical direction.
Further, in the present invention, a bolt for fixing a carpet is provided on the upper side of the attachment face.
Thus, according to the present invention, since the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that the footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket is supported by the three wall faces, the stiffness can be increased, and thus the cost can be reduced. Since a protrusion of a dash silencer is inserted into and arranged in an interior in cross section of the pedal bracket, the appearance can be improved. Also, since the pedal bracket except the attachment face which is attached to the vehicle body is covered with the dash silencer, the decrease in the sound absorption property and sound insulation property can be kept to the minimum. Since the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that the footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket is supported by the three wall faces, the stiffness of pedal bracket can be increased, and the strength and stiffness of a portion in which the footrest is installed to the vehicle body can be increased. Further, since the pedal bracket is installed after a painting process, the welding work efficiency for the welding of a lapped portion of a dash upper panel and a dash lower panel constituting the dash panel can be improved. Also, the work for applying a sealer to the lapped portion of the dash upper panel and the dash lower panel can be performed easily. Since at least one of the mounting holes is formed into an elongated hole extending in the vertical direction, the allowable range of dimensional accuracy of the pitch of mounting bolts becomes wide, so that the cost can be reduced. Further, since the bolt for fixing the carpet is provided on the upper side of the attachment face, the upper part of carpet can be fixed, and turning-up of the end portion and other troubles can be prevented. Therefore, the appearance can be improved.